The British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918

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The Northamptonshire Regiment

Battalions of the Regular Army

1st Battalion
August 1914 : in Blackdown near Aldershot under command of 2nd Brigade in 1st Division.
13 August 1914 : landed at Le Havre.

2nd Battalion
August 1914 : in Alexandria, Egypt. Returned to England, landing October 1914.
October 1914 : moved to Hursley Park near Winchester and came under command of 24th Brigade in 8th Division.
5 November 1914 : landed at Le Havre.

3rd (Reserve) Battalion
August 1914 : in Northampton. A depot/training unit, it moved on mobilisation to Portland. Moved to Gillingham (Kent) in May 1915 and on to Scrapsgate (Sheppey) in may 1918 where it remained as part of the Thames & Medway Garrison.

Battalions of the Territorial Force

1/4th Battalion
August 1914 : in Northampton. Part of East Midlands Brigade in East Anglian Division.
May 1915 : the formation was retitled as 162nd Brigade, 54th (East Anglian) Division.
July 1915 : embarked at Liverpool and moved to Gallipoli via Mudros. Landed at Suvla Bay on 15 August 1915.19 December 1915 : evacuated from Gallipoli and arrived at Alexandria. Served in Egypt and Palestine thereafter.

2/4th Battalion
Formed at Northampton on 27 November 1914 as a second line unit.Moved to Thetford in early 1915; went on to Harrogate in June 1916, Stockton in October 1916, Carburton Camp in May 1917 and finally to Clipstone Camp in November 1917.14 March 1918 : disbanded. Troops posted to 4th Reserve Bn.

3/4th Battalion
Formed at Northampton on 12 February 1915. Moved to Windsor Great Park in August 1915 and on to Halton Park in October.8 April 1916 : became 4th Reserve Bn.Moved to Crowborough about August 1917 and on to St Leonards in September 1918.

9th Battalion
On 1 January 1917, the 62nd Provisional Bn became the 9th Northants. It had been formed in June 1915 from Home Service personnel. Based initially at Cley next the Sea, it moved to Sheringham in mid 1918.

Battalions of the New Armies

5th (Service) Battalion (Pioneers)
Formed at Northampton in August 1914 as part of K1 and attached as Army Troops to 12th (Eastern) Division. Moved initially to Shorncliffe and on to Hythe in November 1914.January 1915 : converted into Pioneer Battalion for same Division. Moved to Aldershot in February 1915.30 May 1915 : landed in France.

6th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Northampton in September 1914 as part of K2 and attached as Army Troops to 18th (Eastern) Division. Moved to Colchester. November 1914 :transferred to 54th Brigade in same Division. Moved to Salisbury Plain in May 1915.26 July 1915 : landed in France.

7th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Northampton in September 1914 as part of K3 and came under command of 73rd Brigade in 24th Division. Moved to the South Downs and into billets in Southwick between November 1914 and April 1915. Moved on to Woking in June 1915.2 September 1915 : landed at Boulogne.

8th (Reserve) Battalion
Formed at Weymouth in October 1914 as a Service battalion for K4 andcame under command of 103rd Brigade, original 34th Division. Moved to Penzance in January 1915.10 April 1915 : converted into a reserve battalion. Moved in May 1915 to Colchester and then on to Sittingbourne in March 1916.1 September 1916 : converted into 28th Training Reserve Battalion of 6th Reserve Brigade at Maidstone.

Other Battalions

1st Garrison Battalion
Formed in Warlingham in September 1915. Went to Egypt in October 1915, moving eventually into Palestine and Salonika.

2nd (Home Service) Garrison Battalion
Formed at the Isle of Grain (Sheerness) in June 1916. In August 1917, became the 13th Bn, the Royal Defence Corps.

Related pages

Men of the 7th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment resting in camp near Dickebusch on 9 August 1917. Prior to coming out of the line this battalion had taken part in an attack on Shrewsbury Forest on 31 July 1917, during which the unit lost its commanding officer, 11 officers and 246 men. From the Imperial War Museum collection, with my thanks.

The regimental badge as depicted on a CWGC grave stone. From the PaulHP collection at flickr, with my thanks.

Links

Harold Beevers, commissioned into the Hampshires but who served with the 1/4th Battalion;
Henry Roffey, an old soldier of 1st Battalion who later served with staff of Indian Expeditionary Force D;
John Barnes, of 2nd (Home Service) Garrison Battalion, who died of a malignant tumour on 1 October 1917, and
Clement Arnold, who trained with the Northants before being transferred to the Machine Gun Corps.

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